The European Spa Association (ESPA) is a non-profit and non-governmental umbrella association of national associations and members from 20 European countries. ESPA’s main task is to represent the interests of its members at the European level. In addition to lobbying, it also supports its members by providing complex services including marketing activities, supporting R&D in the industry, and certifying the quality of health and spa resorts and wellness facilities across Europe with EuropeSpa med and EuropeSpa wellness quality seals.
During the meeting different aspects of cooperation were discussed. The fact that not all the WelDest partner countries are ESPA members represented an additional advantage for mutual promotion. A lack of qualified management was defined as one of the major problems of the industry and it was concluded that joint efforts could contribute to continuing professional development in the field. Further possible collaboration at the world's largest tourism trade fair, ITB Berlin, was mentioned as well. Both sides also considered cooperation in the framework of upcoming events such as the Annual ESPA Congress and the WelDest end seminar in Finland in 2014.
Promoting the health and well-being concept and encouraging the exchange of experience, best practices and know-how are just a few of the many intersecting aims and interests of ESPA and WelDest. We would like to thank ESPA for welcoming the WelDest project group at their office and believe that the meeting was just the beginning of fruitful and productive cooperation.
